San Diego Air
San Diego Air is the largest low cost carrier in the United States, having surpassed Southwest Airlines in 2006 in terms of annual passengers, and is headquartered in San Diego, California. San Diego Air, commonly referred to as "SDA", has 6 hubs and 5 focus cities. Of these, San Diego is by far the largest in terms of departures and passengers carried. SDA was founded in 1977, and got FAA approval in 1980. The airline was a small airline until they acquired Pacific Southwest Airlines' fleet and destinations in 1988. As of 2018, SDA carries more domestic passengers than any other US based airline, and is the third largest airline in the world in terms of passengers carried, after American Airlines and Delta Airlines. History In 1977, Hartford Foster bought the rights to 3 retired Boeing 727-200 aircraft from United Airlines. They were stored at the Richmond International Airport. On August 13 of the same year, Hartford Foster and Charlotte Foster founded North Carolina Express. However, due to family issues, both founders had to relocate to San Diego, California. Likewise, the 3 Boeing 727 aircraft were flown and stored at the San Diego International Airport. In 1978, Virginia Express was renamed to San Diego Air, and the aircraft were remade to follow the design. By 1980, the company had gathered enough resources to begin flying. Additionally, they had bought gates at the Phoenix-Sky Harbor International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, and the San Francisco International Airport. Their first flight was on February 21 from San Diego to Phoenix. Due to the low cost of the flights on popular routes, the airlines began to grow rapidly. By December in 2018, the San Diego Air Fleet had grown from 3 Boeing 727-200 Aircraft to 10 Boeing 727-200 Aircraft and 4 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-41 aircraft and were operating 25 daily flights. Acquisition of Pacific Southwest Airlines By 1988, San Diego Air now had over 60 aircraft in their fleet, and served destinations in 26 different states as well as an international flight to London, which they operated on their 3 DC-10 aircraft from San Diego, Orlando, and Baltimore. In mid-1988, San Diego Air bought rights to the bankrupt Pacific Southwest Airlines, gaining all the gates to the airports the served as well as their entire fleet. After the acquisition of the now defunct airline, San Diego Air began to explode in popularity, and quickly began rivaling airlines that had been operating for much longer, such as the dying Eastern Air Lines. Acquisition of Southwest Airlines By 2016, the San Diego Air group had became a mega-airline, the fourth-largest in the world, behind the Etihad, Delta, and American groups. In July of 2016, San Diego Air abruptly announced that they would be buying Southwest Airlines, which had been struggling financially due to lack of passengers for almost 8 years, for $4 billion dollars. With this purchase, San Diego Air acquired the now almost completely diminished fleet of 737s as well as the gates to the airports served by Southwest. Most of the aircraft San Diego Air acquired were leased or sold to smaller airlines, such as the struggling Spirit Airlines and new Midwest Express. San Diego Air Express San Diego Air Express San Diego Air Express is a sub-airline wholly owned by San Diego Air, and was created in 1988 to serve the high number of regional destinations adopted from Pacific Southwest Airlines. After the start, SDAE continued to grow, only serving smaller, more regional airports, such as Yumpa Valley Airport, and uses smaller aircraft. All small aircraft currently being operated by San Diego Air were given to SDAE. Since its creation, SDAE has rivaled other sub-airlines, such as Delta Connection and American Eagle. Destinations List of San Diego Air destinations SDA has over 160 destinations in total, and has destinations to 30 countries. As of December 2018, SDA operates 13,000 flights per day. Top Cities Fleet San Diego Air Fleet As of December 2018, SDA has a total fleet of 886, consisting mainly of Boeing aircraft and Airbus aircraft. SDA is the world's largest operator of McDonnell Douglas MD-80s. Accidents and Incidents Category:SuperDestructiveTwister Category:Airline